Political Behaviour Impact to Leadership Excellence

LEADERS AND FOLLOWERSNO HARD AND FAST DISTINCTIONS Separate political behavior, studied in this volume, from governmental organization, studied in the volume to follow. Generally speaking, however, political behavior consists of (1) a particular area of political activity and (2) kinds of political actions that are common to all politics. Political behavior is an area of political activity - the activity that occurs outside the formal and legal organizations of government. The chapters of this volume discuss a progression of concerns: first comes the political activity of large and vague groupings like the community and public; then comes that of tighter groups-the electorate, election constituencies, political parties, pressure groups, and conflict groups. Political behavior in this sense is the behavior of individuals and groups outside the government who are striving to influence or take possession of the government. The volume ends as we reach the special organized activities of the state, as exemplified by legislative and administrative institutions. Political behavior is political activity common to all politics. Certain principles of political science apply both to political behavior and governmental organizations. We find, for instance, that lawyers, soldiers, and professors maintain characteristic habits both in the contest for power and later in the offices of government; or that a person's attitudes will remain in many respects the same be he a voter or a congressman; or that leadership in the Department of Agriculture has a number of qualities in common with leadership in a club or political party. Principles such as these, which are common to politics as a whole, are traditionally and conveniently treated as part of the study of political behavior. Leadership is a fitting topic with which to begin the study of political behavior. It is a relationship that pervades every association among men. Even Robinson Crusoe became a...